Clitheroe Royal Grammar School 11+ guide

Thinking about applying to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School? Find out everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026 and how to prepare your child for success in the 11 plus entrance exam.

Key information for Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

• Address: Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, Main School, Chatburn Road, Clitheroe, BB7 2BA
• Number of pupils: approx 1,400
• Admissions contact: [email protected]
• Number of places in Year 7: 180
• 11+ exam: Lancashire 11 plus
• Catchment area: yes

Dates for your diary

• Monday 2nd June 2025: Clitheroe Royal Grammar School exam registration opens
• Wednesday 2nd July 2025: Clitheroe Royal Grammar School open evening
• Friday 12th September 2025: Clitheroe Royal Grammar School exam registration closes
• Saturday 27th September 2025: Clitheroe Royal Grammar School entrance exam
• Friday 10th October 2025: Clitheroe Royal Grammar School exam results
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school applications close at 5pm
• Monday 2nd March 2026: secondary school national offers day

About Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School (CRGS) is a co-educational grammar school located in Clitheroe, Lancashire, catering to students aged 11 to 18. Established in 1554, the school boasts a rich history of academic excellence and personal development. The school's motto, "Founded on Rock," reflects its commitment to providing a solid foundation for lifelong learning.

CRGS operates across two sites: the Main School on Chatburn Road for students in Years 7 to 11, and the Sixth Form Centre on York Street for advanced studies. The school offers a broad curriculum, encouraging students to excel academically while developing essential life skills.

Students are assigned to one of six houses: Curie, Roosevelt, Galileo, Socrates, Turing, and Angelou. This house system fosters a sense of community, teamwork, and healthy competition through various inter-house events and activities.

How to apply to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School is a selective state school. This means that your child will need to take the 11 plus exam to be eligible for a place in Year 7.

Registration for the Clitheroe Royal Grammar School 11 plus opens Monday 2nd June 2025 and closes on Friday 12th September. Your child will take the exam in September and you’ll receive their results October 2025.

To apply to Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, you’ll need to name the school as one of your preferred schools on the secondary school common application form. This will be available on your home council website from early September and must be submitted by 31st October 2025.

Remember – passing the 11 plus doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your preferred school. Many grammar schools are often oversubscribed with qualified children. Schools and their admissions authorities work through admissions criteria to prioritise children for places. We’ve included the admissions criteria for Clitheroe Royal Grammar School below.

What subjects are on the 11 plus?

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School uses the same 11 plus exam as the other grammar schools in Lancashire. The exam consists of three test papers provided by GL Assessment:

• English
• Maths
• Verbal reasoning

All of the questions in the Lancashire 11 plus are multiple-choice. Your child will have separate answer sheets which they will use to mark their answers. These are marked electronically.

How does place allocation work at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School?

Your child’s marks in the 11 plus are age-standardised to ensure that younger children aren’t disadvantaged. All children’s standardised scores are then placed in rank order from highest to lowest. Clitheroe Royal Grammar School will then set a qualifying score based on this ranked list.

If the number of children who achieve the qualifying score exceeds 180, Clitheroe Royal Grammar School applies oversubscription criteria. Children are prioritised for places in the following order:

1. Looked after or previously looked after children.
2. Children who live in the immediate catchment area and qualify for pupil premium funding.
3. Children who live in the immediate catchment area.
4. Children who live in the wider catchment area and qualify for pupil premium funding.
5. Children who live in the wider catchment area.
6. Children who live outside the catchment area and qualify for pupil premium funding.
7. Children who live outside the catchment area.

Children in categories 2–7 will be ranked in order of their exam results.

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School immediate catchment area

The immediate catchment area consists of the following civil parishes of the Borough of Ribble Valley:

Aighton, Bailey & Chaigley, Balderstone, Bashall Eaves, Billington and Langho, Bolton by Bowland, Bowland Forest High, Bowland Forest Low, Bowland with Leagram, Chatburn, Clayton-le-Dale, Clitheroe, Dinckley, Downham, Easington, Gisburn, Gisburn Forest, Great Mitton, Grindleton, Horton, Little Mitton, Mearley, Mellor, Middop, Newsholme, Newton, Osbaldeston, Paythorne, Pendleton, Ramsgreave, Read, Rimington, Sabden, Salesbury, Sawley, Simonstone, Slaidburn, Twiston, Waddington, West Bradford, Whalley, Wilpshire, Wiswell and Barrow, Worston.

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School wider catchment area

The wider catchment area consists of the following Borough Council areas of Lancashire:

Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre.

Atom’s top tips for 11 plus preparation

The 11 plus is designed to select the most academically able children in the local area. Here are our top tips to help you and your child feel confident for exam day!

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the 11 plus. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers for the Lancashire 11 plus. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.